Chapter 17
He Renyuan took a sip of sour plum juice to calm himself, trying to stall for time, and picked up Bai Xiaocha, “Uncle will eat later, you go drink some water, you can make your own milk tea here.”
He held Cha Bao and stood in front of the milk tea condiment table. On the left were the milk tea dispensers with loose leaf tea, fresh milk, and pre-made milk tea. On the right were various toppings: taro paste, boba, pearls, egg pudding, Oreo crumbs, etc. Popular milk tea recipes were posted on the wall.
Milk tea filled with toppings was known as eight-treasure porridge. This kind of hodgepodge was more suitable for Bai Xiaocha. He Renyuan felt obligated to teach Cha Bao the correct way to mix food: sweet with sweet, salty with salty. Next time, he would take him to try spicy hot pot.
As long as Bai Xiaocha had normal human taste buds, he would know how to make delicious food after a few lessons.
As for why he was teaching Cha Bao instead of correcting Bai Qingyu’s mixed feeding method, it was obvious that one was teachable, and the other was incorrigible.
He Renyuan, “Cha Bao, what flavor of milk tea do you want?”
Bai Xiaocha’s face became serious, “Uncle, milk tea is not good.”
He Renyuan couldn’t believe there was something Bai Xiaocha found unpalatable.
“Have you tried it before?”
Bai Xiaocha, “Dad bought it.”
He Renyuan, “Where did he buy it?”
Bai Xiaocha, “From the uncle who sells buns.”
He Renyuan understood. At those breakfast stalls, the milk tea and soy milk were probably made from instant powder, with an overwhelming amount of flavoring.
He Renyuan felt both heartache and relief that Cha Bao had good taste, “The one here will taste better.”
Bai Xiaocha sniffed and whispered to He Renyuan, “It doesn’t smell good, uncle.”
Bai Qingyu noticed that He Renyuan was getting to the bottom of things even with a child, and Bai Xiaocha was easy to coax into talking, so he answered for his son, “He’s used to smelling good tea with me back home. He doesn’t like any tea-flavored food that’s not made with good tea.”
What good tea leaves could be used to make milk tea?
He Renyuan didn’t doubt him. It seemed that all three of them were picky about tea. He just happened to have countless good teas at home.
“Then have some milk.” He Renyuan took a cup and poured half a bowl of milk, “What else do you want to add?”
Cha Bao asked about the names of all the toppings.
He Renyuan understood, a little bit of everything. He was afraid it would really turn into eight-treasure porridge, so he didn’t add them directly to the milk, but put them in a separate bowl.
“Add as much as you want to eat.” He Renyuan chose his words carefully, “Eat sweet things with sweet things.”
“Okay.”
Bai Qingyu looked up incredulously. Didn’t He Renyuan hate children? Why was he teaching a child how to eat?
Bai Xiaocha held the spoon, imitating him, and ate step by step, “Dad, this is boba.”
He put a crispy boba in his mouth, then scooped a small piece of egg pudding into his right cheek, his cheeks puffed slightly, and mumbled, “This is pudding.”
“This is milk.”
Finally, he took a big sip of sweet milk.
Hmm? It seemed to taste like milk tea?
Bai Xiaocha tentatively shook his head, his own high-quality tea flavor blending into the milk.
He shook his head again. Oh, it had become milk tea!
He Renyuan frowned and held out the bowl, “Doesn’t it taste good? Spit it out.”
Bai Xiaocha shook his head vigorously, his clear eyes looking at his uncle, as if speaking: Wait a moment, it will taste better.
Bai Qingyu accurately understood that his son was shaking milk tea and said, “It’s okay, he’s full and playing.”
He Renyuan, “Really?” Children were unpredictable, so it wasn’t surprising.
Bai Xiaocha swallowed his homemade milk tea and said to his dad impatiently, “Dad, the milk tea is delicious.”
Bai Qingyu said calmly, “Yes.”
“Young master, don’t mind him, eat first.” Bai Qingyu pushed the leftovers towards He Renyuan, diverting his attention from the little boy shaking milk tea.
He Renyuan looked at the bowl of hodgepodge in front of him, mixed and viscous. Bai Xiaocha had even poured a bowl of bird’s nest into it.
Why didn’t he stop him in the first place?
He Renyuan thought he would throw up after one bite, so he closed his eyes with a resigned expression. But – nothing happened.
He swallowed it smoothly.
“…”
He had really underestimated his tolerance.
A short pain was better than a long one. After quickly finishing the leftovers, He Renyuan hesitated for a moment and picked up the scissors for cutting barbecue.
It wasn’t that he wanted to serve Bai Qingyu, it was that Bai Qingyu was too clumsy and didn’t know how to use them. He had been grilling for a long time and only ate two or three pieces.
While the adult was eating barbecue, Bai Xiaocha continued to shake his milk tea. After five sips, he felt a little milk-drunk. He raised his hands to cover his dizzy eyes, but accidentally pressed his puffed cheeks.
Poof – a mouthful of milk tea sprayed onto He Renyuan’s suit pants.
Bai Xiaocha: (⊙-⊙)
Bai Qingyu: (⊙ｏ⊙)
Bai Xiaocha, “Uncle, I’m sorry.”
Bai Qingyu, “Young master, I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay.” He Renyuan hurriedly took a wet wipe and wiped the little one’s mouth.
“Why does it smell like milk tea?” He picked up the bowl of milk on the table and sniffed it. Cha Bao said he didn’t want milk tea, he had clearly poured milk.
Bai Qingyu’s nerves tightened. Son, you’ve exposed our tea secret.
This was bad.
A palm-sized white milk stain was very obvious on He Renyuan’s black suit pants. Bai Qingyu, who was originally sitting opposite him, stood up and ran over, hurriedly grabbed a few wet wipes, and rubbed them vigorously on He Renyuan’s leg. The tea smell shouldn’t be obvious, it should be covered up.
He Renyuan looked at Bai Qingyu, who had suddenly come closer. The other party squatted down anxiously and fussed over his thigh, his beautiful, fair hands pressing the wet wipes, as if trying to suck away the milk stain like he had committed a cardinal sin. The bully housekeeper rarely lowered his head in front of him. When he lowered his head, the back of his neck also revealed a fragile and beautiful line.
He Renyuan leaned back, a look of forbearance on his face, “Alright.”
Bai Qingyu tried to stay calm, “Do you want to go to the restroom and take them off so I can rub them for you?”
This way, the evidence would be completely destroyed.
He Renyuan didn’t want to take off his pants in front of Bai Qingyu, “No, I’ll go myself, you watch the child.”
Bai Qingyu refused to let go because He Renyuan’s nose was too sensitive.
What if he smelled it while rubbing his pants? There was no need to wait… He Renyuan was already suspicious.
Bai Qingyu watched as He Renyuan pinched his pants with his thumb and forefinger, put it under his nose, sniffed it, and showed a thoughtful expression.
Didn’t He Renyuan hate children? Why was he smelling Bai Xiaocha’s spit-up milk?!
Seeing Bai Qingyu’s panicked look, He Renyuan said with amusement, “Sit still, I won’t ask you to pay for it.”
He Renyuan couldn’t stand his thigh being touched, so he planned to get spare clothes from the car and instructed, “Wait for me for five minutes, don’t run around.”
Wait… wait for He Renyuan to come back and ask what was going on and let Cha Bao perform it again for him?
Bai Qingyu naturally didn’t dare to take the risk. If his identity as a tea deity was discovered by humans, he and Bai Xiaocha wouldn’t be safe in the human world. He decisively stopped a passing waiter, “Bill, please.”
The waiter smiled, “There are three of you, the child is free. The buffet lunch for two is 1688 yuan. Do you have a membership card?”
Bai Qingyu gulped, “No.”
He paid with heartache, comforting himself that he was using his ex’s money to treat his ex to a meal, the wool came from the sheep’s back.
“Please help me relay a message to the gentleman who came with me. This meal is my thank you to Lawyer He for his help. After this farewell meal, there’s no need to see each other again. My new job is very busy.”
The tea deity ran away with his cub without stopping.
“The world outside is too dangerous, baby,” Bai Qingyu said, “You’re still a baby, you can’t shake milk tea outside. Employing child labor, if Uncle Police finds out, he will fine the boss.”
Bai Xiaocha realized the seriousness of the matter, “Uncle Boss is a good person, he can’t be arrested by Uncle Police.”
Bai Qingyu, “Right, you can only drink it in front of Dad.”
Three minutes later, He Renyuan came back. After hearing the message relayed by the front desk, his face darkened.
Was he, He Renyuan, some kind of monster? He had never met anyone who ran away after paying the bill halfway through a meal!
He wouldn’t be so angry if Bai Qingyu hadn’t paid. Paying the bill clearly meant drawing a line.
He was just feeling sorry for Bai Qingyu wandering outside with a child and couldn’t bear to watch.
Since Bai Qingyu was so rich, he could live well outside. He would see if he would still meddle in other people’s business when his money ran out.
He Renyuan was still furious all the way home and didn’t get out of the car for a long time after turning off the engine.
The housekeeper had been waiting for good news at home, squinting his eyes, trying to see through the car window if there was anyone in the back seat.
No.
What was going on, young master? Hadn’t he taught him all the secrets to winning over Cha Bao?
He still hadn’t brought Cha Bao home?
He Renyuan lowered the car window for some air.
The housekeeper bent down and looked at the man and the car nervously.
A new luxury car, casual suit, stylish hairstyle… what was the problem?
The housekeeper seemed to be reviewing the reasons why the landlord’s silly son failed another blind date:
“Young master, did you control your temper? Children are easily scared.”
He Renyuan made a sound from his throat, “Yes.”
The housekeeper, “Then did you speak nicely to Bai Qingyu?”
He Renyuan: “.”
The housekeeper thought he probably did and pondered hard, what else could be the problem?
“Then, then did you pay the bill?” The housekeeper asked casually. He Renyuan would never let Bai Qingyu pay.
He Renyuan’s face stiffened. He slammed the car door and went upstairs, “Don’t mention his name again.”
The housekeeper’s eyes widened in shock. No, young master, you really didn’t pay?
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One year old as a stand-in, two years old shaking milk tea.
